• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.283-292
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• 2017

Background Settlements between doctors and patients provide a solution to complicated disputes. However, some disputes may be renewed as a result of negligence by both parties. The purpose of this study was to review the legal issues that may potentially arise during the preparation of settlement agreements and to propose a list of requirements for ensuring the effectiveness of these settlement agreements. Methods Data from 287 civil cases concerning aesthetic surgery that took place between 2000 and 2015 were collected from a court database in South Korea. Factors that influenced the effectiveness of settlement agreements were analyzed. Results Among the 287 court precedents, there were 68 cases of covenant not to sue. Eighteen cases were dismissed because the settlement agreements were recognized as effective, and 50 cases were sent forward for judgment on their merits because the agreements were not recognized as effective. The types of surgery and types of complications were classified by frequency. We evaluated the geographical distribution of the precedents, the settlement timing, and the effectiveness and economic impact of the settlements. We found that there was no statistically significant relationship among these factors. Four major factors that made a settlement agreement legally effective were identified, and the data showed that fee-free reoperations were not considered by the court in determining the compensation amount. Conclusions When preparing a settlement agreement, it is advisable to review the contents of the agreement rather than to take the preparation of a settlement agreement per se to be legally meaningful.

• The Journal of shipping and logistics
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.583-613
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• 2018

This study analyse the safe port warranty undertaking for shipowner of time charterer with the Ocean Victory Case. Litigation ensued between those in the charterparty chain. When the hull insurer, Gard, took an assignment of the rights of the vessel's owners and demise charterers in a claim against the time charterers that the vessel had been ordered by them to an unsafe port in breach of the charter. Although the claim succeeded, the Court of Appeal overturned the decision. The Supreme Court delivered its judgment on May 10, 2017, dealing with three important issues, safe port, joint insurance, and limitation of liability. Especially on the safe port issue, the court held that the port was not unsafe within the meaning of the safe port undertaking so the charterers were not in breach of it. The conditions in the port amounted to an abnormal occurrence as that expression is understood.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.23-33
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• 2022

Cracks, which account for the largest proportion of defect lawsuits in apartment buildings, are not clear on the criteria for defect determination, so judgments about defects are mixed. Interlayer cracks, which account for most of the crack defect judgment amount, tend to be judged as defects regardless of the crack width or condition, and repair methods are mostly set uniformly. This starts from the problem that the standards of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Construction Appraisal Practice, which the courts use as standards, do not match. It is necessary to establish a defect determination standard that can be applied to all stakeholders through the amendment of laws and the revision of the Court Appraisal Practice. In addition, it is necessary to apply the crack repair method according to the width and condition of the interlayer crack. If the defect determination and the application of the repair method for cracks are rationalized, it could serve as an opportunity to change the current trend of defect disputes that rely only on litigation.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.15-31
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• 2023

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the characteristics of patient safety incidents (PSIs) related to nursing and to provide primary data for preventing the recurrence of similar incidents. Methods: This secondary analysis study included damage claims rulings filed for clinical negligence from 2014 to 2018 that contained the keyword 'nurse'. It excluded judgments irrelevant to nursing care and in which clinical negligence or causal damages were overruled. A total of 93 cases were analyzed. The characteristics of PSIs were derived through descriptive statistics, and two instances of nursing-related PSIs were examined by qualitative content analysis focusing on root causes. Results: The analysis of PSIs related to nursing suggested that the medical institutions where the PSIs occurred most frequently were hospitals, and the most common types of PSIs were medication, surgery, and treatment/procedure, in that order. In addition, it indicated that nursing-related PSIs occurred most frequently in general wards during the day shift, with the most common related nursing practice being managing potential risk factors. The qualitative analysis showed that careless monitoring and institutional inertia were causes of PSIs. Conclusion: To prevent nursing-related PSIs, nurses need to individually monitor and assess patient conditions. In addition, support should be accompanied by the improvement in the systems in place aimed at preventing the recurrence of nursing-related PSIs at the institutional and national level, such as securing appropriate nursing personnel and improving labor conditions.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.3-36
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• 2023

The main issue in medical malpractice civil litigation is medical negligence and the causal relationship between medical negligence and damages. Regarding the presumption of causality in cases where medical negligence is proven, there is a previous Supreme Court decision 93da52402 on February 10, 1995, but it is difficult to find a case that satisfies the textual requirements of the above decision, and yet, in practice, the above decision is cited. In many cases, causal relationships were assumed, and criticism was consistently raised that it was inconsistent with the text of the above judgment. In its ruling, the Supreme Court reorganized and presented a new legal principle regarding the presumption of causality when medical negligence is proven in a civil lawsuit. According to this, If the patient proves ① the existence of an act that is assessed as a medical negligence, that is, a violation of the duty of care required of an ordinary medical professional at the level of medical care practiced in the field of clinical medicine at the time of medical practice, and ② that the negligence is likely to cause damages to the patient, the burden of proving the causal relationship is alleviated by presuming a causal relationship between medical negligence and damage. Here, the probability of occurrence of damage does not need to be proven beyond doubt from a natural scientific or medical perspective, but if recognizing the causal relationship between the negligence and the damage does not comply with medical principles or if there is a vague possibility that the negligence will cause damage, causality cannot be considered proven. Meanwhile, even if a causal relationship between medical negligence and damage is presumed, the party that performed the medical treatment can overturn the presumption by proving that the patient's damage was not caused by medical negligence. Meanwhile, unlike civil cases, the standard is 'proof beyond reasonable doubt' in criminal cases, and the legal principle of presuming causality does not apply. Accordingly, in a criminal case of professional negligence manslaughter that was decided on the same day regarding the same medical accident, the case was overturned and remanded for not guilty due to lack of proof of a causal relationship between medical negligence and death. The above criminal ruling is a ruling that states that even if 'professional negligence' is recognized in a criminal case related to medical malpractice, the person should not be judged guilty if there is a lack of clear proof of 'causal relationship'.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-31
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• 1982

A physician assumes toward his patient the obligation to use such reasonable care and skill as is commonly possessed and exercised by physicians in the same general line of practice in the same or similar localities and to use his best judgment at the times. Medical disputes between physicians and patients are, ever more increased in these days as human body, happens to cause a variety of changes in body unlike the function of machine. Such increased trends of medical disputes became a problem in common across the word under the influence of affluent living standard, high consciousness of life value and right by today's people. The aim of this dissertation is oriented to forming a physician's responsibilities in medicalcare accidents arising between physicians and patients. A general physician, for example, has not been negligent merely because, a specialist might have treated the patient with greater skill and knowledge. However, the fact that a physician may have acted to the best of his ability will not avoid legal problems for damages resulting from substandard treatment, that is the degree of care and skill which is to be expected of the ordinary practitioner in his field of practice. The duty of a physician who is, or holds himself out to be, a specialist is greater in the field of his specialty than one who is a general physician. A patient's consent to routine medical procedures is implied from the fact that patient comes to the physician with a medical problem and voluntarily submits to the procedures. For the more serious medical procedures and for major operations, however, it is preferable for the physician to have the patient's consent in writing, to facilitate proof of the consent in the event of a dispute or litigation. Suppose that mistakes on the part of physicians are likely to be blamed in all cases of malpractice. Then it will create a sort of shrinkage in activities of medical treatment. There should be some limitation on excessive application of 'The thing speaks for itself' on mistakes by physicians and availablity of cause and effect. It is a matter of complicity as well as a matter of importance to draw a definite boundary on responsibilities of physician. A series of further research on this particular aspect is strongly urged.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.83-107
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• 2019

In order to resolve a dispute over a medical accident, the court is in the process of appraising the medical records for medical professionals to report their medical expertise or judgments using that knowledge. The consequences of expert opinion about a medical accident are only one of the methods of evidence as a reference. Therefore, in principle, the court should not be bound to the results, but the court, which is not a medical expert, can not completely rule out medical expert opinion as to whether there is medical malpractice and causality. Therefore, it can not be denied that the proportion of expert opinion of medical records in the dispute about medical accidents is high and it has an important influence on the judgement of the court. In this paper, we examine the significance and function of expert opinion of the medical accident, examine the appraising procedure of the medical records in the court and the appraising procedure of the medical accidents of the Korean medical dispute mediation arbitrator do. In addition, I would like to examine what kind of attitude is being taken in response to expert opinion of medical records in Korea to court, to examine the implications of the case of Japan as a foreign system, and to suggest improvement points in the expert opinion procedure of medical record filing in Korea. In particular, I would like to suggest improvements on issues such as the fairness of the expert opinion of medical records and the delays in litigation due to delays in the process of expert opinion.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.173-207
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• 2018

Japan is a super-aged society where the proportion of the people aged over 65 is exceeded 20%. Therefore, there are many accidents that occur in long-term care facilities in Japan, and there are many civil litigations. The Japanese court has acknowledged in many cases that the long-term facility is responsible for the damage to the elderly who is injured in the facility. The cases can be divided into ① tumbling down, ② wandering, ③ suffocation, ④ bedsore, and ⑤ accidents among the facility-users. In most cases, the court found that the facility violated its obligation to protect their users. This is not only the case where the manager or the employee of the facility violates the obligation to watch and care for the elderly, but in some cases, the failure to maintain the human and material system itself is recognized. The basis for such judgment is whether the facility can predict the possibility of an accident and whether the facility has taken measures to prevent accidents. Also, the Japanese court recognizes the transfer of burden of proof in order to expedite the victims' rights. However, the liability of the facility for damages should not be so heavy that it would be hesitant to allow a person to enter the facility and make a contract.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.305-314
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• 2021

According to the recent judgment of Supreme Court, in case when the National Health Insurance Service pays the insurance to a victim of torts, and then subrogate the victim's claim for damages, the scope of institution's subrogation should be limited to the amount of the assailant's responsibility rate of the institution charge, and the amount of compensation claimed by the victim to the assailant should be calculated in the method of contributory negligence after deduction. The court has judged that the institution could subrogate the whole amount of institution charge in the limit of assailant's damages, and the method of deduction after contributory negligence should be applied when calculating the assailant's damages to the victim. Supreme Court decision is greatly significant in the aspect of harmonizing the nature of health insurance as property right and social insurance as the beneficiaries could get additional supplement, and also seeking the balance between insurer and beneficiary. With the changed legal principles of Supreme Court in the scope of institution subrogation like this, the necessities to complement the litigation relation, legislation, and institution were suggested.

• Korean Journal of Forensic Psychology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2021

This study analyzed the use of expert reports in the investigations and trials of cases of sexual violence against people with intellectual disabilities. A total of 670 alleged sexual assault cases against victims with intellectual disabilities were analyzed. Results showed that 97.5% of the cases included at least one expert report. In most cases(91%), the expert reports of statement validity assessment were included. Additionally, doctor's note (41.1%) from obstetricians and Psychiatrists, intermediary reports(36%), and expert witnesses(psychologists') reports (9.5%) were included. In 80 cases (44.4%) of the 180 cases in which a victim' statement credibility was in question during the trial, judges cited the expert's reports of statement validity assessment as the basis for the judgment on the reliability of the victims' accusation. The frequency of citing the report was higher when the victim was under the age of 13, or when the defendant was found guilty. Regrading the report content, the evaluations of criteria-based content analysis(CBCA) was most frequently cited, while the victim's psychological status, cognitive limitation, as well as possibile contamination of victim's account, were also mentioned in the ruling statements. Results showed agreement between experts' statement validity assessments and judges' determinations in 79 cases out of the 80 cases Finally, this study discussed ways to utilize expert options.